Quang Tri Province's People Court has commenced criminal proceedings against two of the three men who brutally killed five aloe wood hunters in a forest in the province on March 24.
The two men Ho Van Cong (38) and Ho Van Thanh (37) were arrested by local police on the late afternoon of April 2 when hiding in a forest in the area. The police are searching for the last culprit, an armed Laotian.
Ho Van Cong and Ho Van Thanh at the police station
Cong and Thanh have pleaded guilty to killing five aloe wood hunters in a forest in central Quang Binh Province. They are facing four charges including murder, using illegal weapons, kidnap for ransom, and robbery.
According to survivor Do Van Hien, on March 23, their group of 15 people who were hunting for precious scented aloe wood in the local forest assigned eight members to return home to fetch more food while seven others stayed to guard their tents.
At noon that day, three strangers armed with guns appeared and tied them up.
"The three strange men asked us for ransom of VND15 million per person," Hien recalled. "After discussion, they released one of us and told him to return by the evening of March 25 with the ransom."
However, Hien said that at about 2am March 24, the three strange men took them one by one away and beat them dead with some tree branches. At that time, Hien had successfully untied himself and ran away.
The tent where the seven wood hunters were kidnapped
Aloe wood is a very precious kind of scented wood found in some central region in Vietnam, which is priced as high as VND 160 million per kilo.
